We share and comment on an interesting broadcast by Radio NZ on ‘Te Manu Korihi’ (‘the birds singing’) on 7 August 2015. Excerpts from the transcript were as follows:

Presenter: The head of the Federation of Maori Authorities says Maori men need to step up and be more supportive of Maori businesswomen. The Authority runs an annual hui for Maori wahine to support the progression of women in top business leadership roles. Te Manu Korihi’s Alexa Cook reports:

AC: “The chair of the authority, Tracey Haupapa, says wahine face challenges in progressing up the business ladder to senior leadership roles such as chief executive and manager. Ms Haupapa says for women to move forward in business, men need to be more supportive.”

Mmm, so the head of the ‘Federation of Maori Authorities’ is Tracey Haupapa. Well, let’s ignore the irony there except to say that this call from a woman for men to support women into high-paid jobs may involve just a little self-interest.

The fact is that most people face challenges in progressing to chief executive and management roles. They tend to get there through hard work, results, assertively putting themselves forward and it’s always a competitive process to get the job. Yet these women demand that their competitors should stop competing and instead support women into the high-paid jobs!

To say that ‘for women to move forward, men need to be more supportive’ is admitting that women don’t have the wherewithal to move forward on their own merits. It may be sensible to call for young people, both males and females equally, to be prepared and supported for future roles but the demand here implies that adult women are like children needing special treatment.

The article anyway did not provide any evidence that men are not supporting women’s careers or that women are being disadvantaged in any way when they attempt to get big money jobs. The fact is that women are already given special treatment because businesses want to be seen to be more gender balanced in their management teams while government departments are actively required to demonstrate this. Being female will currently provide an advantage over a male competitor with the same qualifications.

As usual, gender equality for feminists only refers to the most powerful and privileged roles. No mention of trying to get more women’s hands dirty fixing trucks, risking their lives in mines or building sites. Starting at the bottom, learning the ropes and doing it well is actually the way many men have risen through the ranks, but women just want to ignore the lower ranks and get a hand straight up to the top without bothering about the hard yards.

The broadcast went on as follows:

TH: “I think there’s an opportunity for our Maori men to step up and to support Maori women. We need our Maori men to recognize that the economic value and strategic input of Maori women is critical to a complete, sustainable and successful future for (inaudible) Maori and indeed NZ. The sooner that happens, the greater progress we’ll make.”

What evidence is there for such outlandish claims that women are so valuable and critical for managing organisations? What evidence is there that our civilization or the businesses operating within it will be more sustainable and successful if women run them? Since women have started taking up senior management roles and board positions, has there been any reduction in the number of businesses going under or has there been any improvement in the functioning of world economies? Quite the reverse we would have thought.

We are constantly hearing these kinds of unevidenced claims extolling the superior qualities and performance of women, while journalists and politicians are too scared to challenge them. Who knows, the claims might be true but we doubt it, and merely repeating them won’t make them any more true.

Of course, Ms Haupapa’s last sentence there is true. The sooner men ‘step up’ and support women, the greater progress women will make. Men of course have always stepped up (or stepped aside as in the case of letting women take the lifeboat places) to protect and support women and no doubt will continue to do so, even though in the feminist era this is no longer very astute.

Let’s continue:

TH: “Our economy is still led by men. While we recognise the good work that the guys are doing, Maori women bring a different viewpoint, a more holistic, more complete, joined up intergenerational view. The value that we add by simply being part of these conversations around strategic and economic development direction and leadership are really important.”

Here are more of the same hollow slogans we keep hearing from feminists. Women may well bring a different viewpoint, but is it really ‘more holistic, more complete’ (whatever that means) and ‘more joined-up intergenerational’ (whatever that means)? Traditions developed and maintained by men have brought most cultures to value heritage, history and future; why would women suddenly believe they will be better at this?

That women will be valuable simply by being part of management conversations is another highly dubious claim. Hollow, arrogant slogans abound.

Then the ‘Maori Development Minister’ (we didn’t know we had one) Te Ururoa Flavell gave a fine display of politician speak designed to appease the audience without saying anything insightful:

TUF: “It’s one thing to be a woman in business, it’s another thing again to be a Maori woman in business. The general discussion I understand has been around some of the barriers that many of our women face in terms of business and some of the hurdles that they face in that role.”

AC: “And what are some of those hurdles?”

TUF: “Well, you can all wrap it up in sort of elements of institutional racism in some cases, the whole question about pay equity, and those are the things that have been highlighted constantly and I say those are common issues for generally women and it’s sort of highlighted for in particular Maori women who want to move forward.”

OMG what drivel! What the hell has institutional racism got to do with the issue of Maori men being called on to support Maori women attaining high-paid roles in Maori organisations? And what the hell has pay equity got to do with any of this? Nothing, but it’s worth mentioning in response that Maori women will be paid the same as Maori or Pakeha men in any senior position; the salary for a position is usually set and it would be illegal to reduce it on the basis of gender.

Even as an example of white-knight ingratiation this wasn’t a good one.

Next we heard comment from ‘senior solicitor Hayley Putaranui’, another somehat inappopriate representative of women who can’t get ahead. She said:

HP: “It’s quite a lot harder for us to get our points across because we almost have to walk a fine line of being polite, not offending anyone, often people you can tell by their body language and the way that they’re received and the questions that get asked of us, that it’s just a lot harder for them to get their heads around accepting that there is a change in the wind.”

Ok, so men on management boards don’t need to be polite or avoid offending others? And men don’t get challenged with hard questions about their opinions and recommendations? Of course, because Ms Putaranui is female she shouldn’t have to put up with any questioning of her statements just as women who accuse men of rape shouldn’t have to put up with any uncomfortable questions about their allegations.

There is ‘change in the wind’ but should men simply accept the wisdom of such change without skepticism or questions? That seems to be what the feminists expect.

Ms Cook then ended with:

“…Ms Putaranui says that the ideal way forward is with both genders supporting each other. Ko Alexa Cook, tenei.”

We may agree that would be the ideal way forward but our experience suggests it would be foolish to expect that the female gender will support the male gender especially when it comes to jobs they will be competing for. Is the female gender supporting the male gender towards taking up more teaching roles? No, instead, feminists are witch-hunting male teachers out of the profession at great rate. We don’t see much evidence anywhere that women are interested in supporting the male gender in any respect. Did we blink and miss it? Instead, we just hear more denigration, jealousy, arrogance, calls for men’s rights to be removed and disregard for the many injustices and inequalities disadvantaging men.